Magazine clearing mechanism for spherical bullets

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a mechanism for a magazine for spherical bullets able to rapidly clear bullets from the internal space of a retaining tube, thereby quickly preparing for reloading of bullets. The present invention primarily consists of a winding wheel operationally driving a drive device through a relational disposition therebetween, and uses a pullback cord fitted to the drive device to effect a rapid pulling operation, thereby swiftly driving the winding wheel to enable clearing of the internal space of the retaining tube and speedily completing preparation for reloading of bullets.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Field of the Invention The present invention provides a magazine for loading spherical bullets, in which a clearing mechanism enables rapid clearing of the space inside a retaining tube ready for reloading of bullets.

(b) Description of the Prior Art

In the prior art, replenishing a gun with paintballs when attacking during a paintball firing game uses a funnel shaped bullet receptacle, and gravity is used to cause the paintballs to drop into the trigger mechanism of the gun body, and is thus limited by the vertical direction of gravity, which prevents the gun from being fired at an angle. In addition, the bullet receptacle is connected to the upper portion of the gun body, thereby interfering with the firing line of sight, and thus losing the simulation effect of using a gun.

Referring to FIG. 1, which shows a recent design, in which an imitation magazine 12 is mounted to a magazine cross-under opening 11 at a lower portion of a gun body 1 to simulate that of a real gun. The magazine 12 is internally provided with a vertical internal tube 121, and a bottom end of the internal tube 121 is fitted with a tensioned spring 122. The working end of the tensioned spring 122 is fitted with a push-pull piece 123. The push-pull piece 123 is subjected to pulling by a pull cord 124, and a spool 125 inversely rewinds the pull cord 124. When the spool 125 rewinds and causes the push-pull piece 123 to retreat, then the internal tube 121 is cleared, thereby enabling paintballs 10 to be deposited into the internal tube 121.

The placement operation for depositing the paintballs 10 requires that the paintballs 10 are spherical bodies intolerant to pressure, and thus the pull cord 124 is used to pull back the push-pull piece 123 to form a space not requiring external force to press the paintballs 10 therein, and only requiring the paintballs 10 to be freely dropped and deposited into the magazine. However, as depicted in FIG. 1, only a few paintballs 10 can be deposited into the magazine 12.

Referring to FIGS. 2-3, which show a further configuration able to increase the number of paintballs that can be loaded into a magazine, and which primarily comprises a U-shaped retaining tube 5 disposed in the interior of a bullet magazine body 2. A tube opening 51 at one end of the retaining tube 5 is fixedly connected to an upper plate 22 of the bullet magazine body 2. The back side of the upper plate 22 is correspondingly fitted with a winding wheel 32, and the winding wheel 32 is acted on by a toggle switch 24 to effect a one-way switch operation. The retaining tube 5 is a tubular U-shaped body, the internal back end of which is fitted with a push-pull spring 6. Front and rear sections of the push-pull spring 6 have unequal elasticity coefficients, and the working end of the push-pull spring 6 pushes a push-pull spherical body 60. The push-pull spherical body 60 is pulled backward by the winding wheel 32 by means of a pull cord 4, and during the backward pulling process of the push-pull spherical body 60, the winding wheel 32 is subjected to the one-way blocking function of the toggle switch 24, thereby stopping the push-pull spherical body 60 from springing back.

The one-way blocking function is blocked by the toggle switch 24, and the toggle switch 24 is designed with a raised configuration. When the magazine body 2 is attached to a gun, any corresponding component of the gun is used to press and move the toggle switch 24 and thereby release the winding wheel 32, thus enabling the push-pull spherical body 60 to outwardly push the paintballs 10.

The winding wheel 32 is connected to the upper plate 22 by means of a connecting mount 23. When the push-pull spring 6 is pushed back forming a compressed state by back pressure from the push-pull spherical body 60, then the push-pull spring 6 presses and locks an elastic accumulation area H. When the push-pull spherical body 60 is released, then tension in the push-pull spring 6 sequentially pushes the paintballs 10 toward the tube opening 51. During the pushing process, the paintballs 10 are sequentially pushed out relying only on the guiding effect of the spherical body 60, and forms an unhindered curved progressive traction at the U-shaped bottom portion.

A winding operation uses the winding wheel 32 outwardly connected to a rotating disc 3, the rotating disc 3 being fitted with a joggling lever 31, to provide a hand operated method for joggling the winding wheel 32.

The aforementioned winding operation uses the joggling lever 31 to wind the winding wheel 32. However, because of the small structure, thus, the circumferential velocity of the winding wheel 32 is low, thereby correspondingly affecting the returning speed of the push-pull spherical body 60.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a magazine for spherical bullets, which is able to clear the internal space of a channel of a retaining tube in the shortest time possible and enable rapid reloading of bullets ready for firing. A drive device is used to linearly pull a pullback cord over a long distance, and the energy obtained therefrom rapidly acts on a winding wheel causing it to completely clear the retaining tube ready for reloading in an extremely short time.

Another objective of the present invention lies in the drive device unidirectionally driving a drive gear by means of a one-way gear meshing device, thereby causing the winding wheel to be unidirectionally driven.

A third objective of the present invention lies in a spool coaxially driving a restoring device, in which the kinetic energy released by the restoring device inversely acts on the spool, thereby rewinding the pullback cord.

To enable a further understanding of said objectives and the technological methods of the invention herein, a brief description of the drawings is provided below followed by a detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a magazine of the prior art with a linear bullet loading channel.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a magazine of the prior art provided with a retaining tube.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the exterior of a winding device of the prior art.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the driving mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view depicting implementation of the clearing operation according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view depicting the present invention ready for reloading of bullets after clearing the retaining tube.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view depicting inverse releasing of paintballs after being fully loaded according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention provides a magazine for spherical bullets, in which a clearing mechanism enables clearing the internal channel space of a retaining tube in the shortest time possible and enable rapid reloading of bullets ready for firing. Referring to FIG. 4, the magazine described in the present invention provides a push-pull spring 6 pin mounted in the interior of a retaining tube 5 used for loading spherical bullets. One end of the push-pull spring 6 abuts against the rear closed end of the interior of the retaining tube 5. The retaining tube 5 is provided with a tube opening 51 that penetrates the upper portion of a magazine body 2. The working end of the push-pull spring 6 is joined to a push-pull spherical body 60, and the push-pull spherical body 60 is able to pass through and round the center of the retaining tube 5 by means of a connection with a pull wire 4. Moreover, the pull wire 4 winds round a winding wheel 32 provided in the magazine body 2, and the winding wheel 32 winds the pull wire 4 in one direction and releases the pull wire 4 in the reverse direction. During the winding process, the push-pull spherical body 60 inversely abuts against the working end of the push-pull spring 6 and compresses the push-pull spring 6 backward, thereby providing the push-pull spring 6 with a compressed prestress force, and the winding action of the winding wheel 32 causes pulling on the pull wire 4. Finally, releasing a toggle switch 24 mounted on the exterior of the magazine body 2 causes the winding wheel 32 to be in a free state, thereby enabling the pull wire 4 to subjected to the effect of the push-pull spring 6 and pushed outward.

The aforementioned toggle switch 24 can be joined to the upper portion of an upper plate 22 in the same direction as the tube opening 51. Accordingly, when the magazine is mounted on a gun body (not shown in the drawings), any component disposed on the gun body will contact and press the toggle switch 24, thereby releasing the winding wheel 32.

The present invention provides a configuration enabling rapid pulling back of the pull wire 4 using a drive device 7 that relationally drives the winding wheel 32. The drive device 7 rapidly drives the winding wheel 32 by means of a linear pulling operation using a pullback cord 9, thereby enabling the push-pull spherical body 60 to be rapidly retrieved by means of the winding wheel 32, and making room inside the internal channel space of the retaining tube 5.

Regarding the linkage relationship between the drive device 7 and the winding wheel 32 of the present invention, referring to FIG. 5, in which an axle center 320 pin mounted to the interior of the magazine body 2 enables the pull wire 4 to wind round the wheel surface of the winding wheel 32, the winding wheel 32 being coaxially coupled to a driven gear 322. The effect of the pullback cord 9 on a drive gear 72 of the drive device 7 drives the winding wheel 32 by means of the driven gear 322. The drive device 7 comprises a spool 71, and the spool 71 indirectly unidirectionally drives the drive gear 72 through a one-way gear meshing device 73. The spool 71 is pin connected to the interior of the magazine body 2 by means of a pivot shaft 70. The pullback cord 9 is wound round the wheel surface of the spool 71, and the pullback cord 9 penetrates and extends out the exterior of the magazine body 2 and is joined to a pull stopper 90. The user is able to pull and hold the pull stopper 90 to rapidly drive the spool 71 by means of a linear pulling operation, thereby causing the spool 71 to drive the drive gear 72 through the one-way gear meshing device 73, whereupon the drive gear 72 drives the driven gear 322. Accordingly, a high-speed linear pulling operation of the pull stopper 90 correspondingly causes high-speed rotational driving of the spool 71.

The spool 71 drives the driven gear 322 through the drive gear 72, and can be replaced with spools of different diameter between the drive gear 72 and the driven gear 322 to change the gear ratio, thereby enabling the drive gear 72 to increase the rotational speed of the driven gear 322. Moreover, the spool 71 can be smaller than the diameter of the drive gear 72, thereby correspondingly increasing circumferential velocity of the drive gear 72.

The spool 71 is supported in the interior of the magazine body 2 by the pivot shaft 70, and the spool 71 drives a restoring device 8 by means of a drive shaft 82, in which the restoring device 8 is able to restore the system. The interior of the restoring device 8 is fitted with a drive disc 83 enabling the drive shaft 82 to be joined thereto. The circumference of the drive disc 83 acts on a rewinding spring 81, and the rewinding spring 81 can be a spool shaped spring. The spool shaped spring 81 is used to enable forming a purely mechanical restoring function, and the direction in which the spring is pulled is opposite to the spool 71. The restoring device 8 is provided with at least two securing locations, and blocking pins 701, 702 are used to secure the restoring device 8 to the magazine body 2, thereby disabling the outer casing of the restoring device 8 from rotating. When one end of the rewinding spring 81 is fixed, then the drive shaft 82 drives the other end of the rewinding spring 81 toward the drive disc 83. The driving operation occurs after the pullback cord 9 is pulled, and the pulling action is transmitted to the drive disc 83 by means of the spool 71. The imparted energy from the reverse pulling action of the spool 71 is stored in the rewinding spring 81, and when the pull stopper 90 is released, then the energy of the rewinding spring 81 is inversely transmitted to the spool 71 through the drive shaft 82, whereupon the spool 71 rewinds the pullback cord 9.

Regarding the one-way gear meshing device 73 of the drive device 7, when the spool 71 is acted on by pulling of the pullback cord 9, a one-way gear meshing action drives the drive gear 72, whereupon the drive gear 72 transfers the energy to the driven gear 322. When the rewinding spring 81 of the restoring device 8 inversely releases its energy, then, during the rewinding process of the pullback cord 9 by the spool 71, a spacing of the one-way gear meshing device 73 correspondingly effects a one-way release action of the drive gear 72, thereby enabling non-interference between the spool 71 and the drive gear 72.

One side of the winding wheel 32 is coaxially joined to a one-way ratchet wheel 321, and the one-way ratchet wheel 321 enables the toggle switch 24 mounted on the exterior of the magazine body 2 to effect a one-way blocking action. A blocking tooth 241 extends into the interior from the toggle switch 24, and the blocking tooth 241 movably blocks the one-way ratchet wheel 321, thereby forming a one-way blocking action. After the winding wheel 32 completes rewinding of the pull wire 4, then internal channel space of the retaining tube 5 (not shown in the drawings) is transiently kept clear by the toggle switch 24.

Regarding actual implementation of the present invention, please refer to FIG. 6, according to the aforementioned assembly, the drive device 7 is adjoined to one side of the winding wheel 32, and a linkage relationship is provided between the drive gear 72 and the driven gear 322. When the user linearly pulls the pullback cord 9 using the pull stopper 90, then the spool 71 is made to rotate in a clockwise direction while simultaneously driving and rotating the drive gear 72 in a clockwise direction. The drive gear 72 acts on the driven gear 322, thereby causing the driven gear 322 to rotate in an anti-clockwise direction, which simultaneously drives the winding wheel 32, and thus causes the winding wheel 32 to rewind the pull wire 4. During the pulling process by the pullback cord 9, the push-pull spherical body 60 retreats backward along with the pull wire 4. The push-pull spring 6 is compressed during the retreating process, thereby providing the push-pull spring 6 with a reserve energy, which is ready to outwardly push away the push-pull spherical body 60 at any time. However, if the winding wheel 32 is restrained by the toggle switch 24 as described above, then, during the time when the toggle switch 24 has not released the winding wheel 32, then the pull wire 4 forms a pulling and holding action.

Referring to FIG. 7, after completing the aforementioned clearing operation of the retaining tube 5, then the user is able to sequentially load paintballs 10 through the tube opening 51.

Referring to FIG. 8, after completing loading, when using the present invention, the toggle switch 24 is subjected to an external force to release the winding wheel 32 (please refer to the structural relationship shown in FIG. 5, which depicts the release action), and the energy stored in the push-pull spring 6 is released outward. The push-pull spherical body 60 first pushes forward the paintballs 10 sequentially loaded in the internal channel of the retaining tube 5, and the paintball 10 contained in the tube opening 51 is ready to leave the magazine at any time. FIG. 8 depicts the situation in which the magazine is mounted on a gun (not shown in the drawings), and after all the paintballs 10 have been pushed out from inside the retaining tube 5, thereby clearing the retaining tube 5, then the user can carry out the operation as depicted in FIG. 6, whereby the pullback cord 9 is pulled by means of the pull stopper 90, thereby causing the pullback cord 9 to drive the spool 71, whereupon the drive gear 72 drives the driven gear 322 to inversely drive the winding wheel 32 and pull the pull wire 4, which inversely rewinds, thereby inversely retreating the push-pull spherical body 60 and clearing the internal channel space of the retaining tube 5, which is thus ready for loading of paintballs again as depicted in FIG. 7.

Based on the described embodiments, the present invention effects a rapid winding action on the winding wheel 32 by pulling on the pull stopper 90 to pull the flexible pullback cord 9, thereby enabling sequential reloading of spherical bullets into the interior of the retaining tube 5. Linear rapid pulling of the pullback cord 9 is effected when the user pulls the pull stopper 90, and the length of the section of the pullback cord 9 can be many times longer than the circumference of the spool 71. Accordingly, the user needs only to pull once to completely rewind the pull wire 4. Even if the line section of the pullback cord 9 is not sufficiently long, then the pulling operation can be carried out twice, whereby pulling the pullback cord 9 two times, and with the intervention of the one-way gear meshing device 73, as depicted in FIG. 5, enables the drive gear 72 to unidirectionally drive the driven gear 322.

The drive gear 72 carries out one drive operation on the driven gear 322 each time the pullback cord 9 is pulled, and pulling the pullback cord 9 two times causes the drive gear 72 to carry out two drive operations on the driven gear 322. Even if the line section of the pullback cord 9 is not long enough, the number of times the pullback cord 9 is pulled can be accumulated in order for the winding wheel 32 to sufficiently rewind the length of the pull wire 4. In principle, the design of the present invention uses multiple speed increase from the drive gear 72 increasing the rotational speed of the driven gear 322 and a smaller circumference of the spool 71 compared to the drive gear 72, thereby enabling the pull wire 4 to be sufficiently rewound by only pulling the pullback cord 9 one time.

Based on the design of the present invention, when acting out a paintball shooting game, the internal channel space of the retaining tube in the interior of the magazine can be rapidly cleared and rapidly reloaded with bullets ready for firing again. Accordingly, the present invention provides an innovative design for magazine reloading of spherical bullets ready for firing again, and thus a new patent application is proposed herein.

It is of course to be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and that a wide variety of modifications thereto may be effected by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. 

1. A magazine clearing mechanism for spherical bullets, in which a clearing mechanism enables clearing an internal channel space of a retaining tube in the shortest time possible and enable rapid reloading of bullets ready for firing, comprising: a magazine body; a retaining tube, which is assembled to an interior of the magazine body, and a tube opening of the retaining tube passes through an upper portion of the magazine body; a push-pull spring, which is pin connected to an internal channel of the retaining tube, one end of the push-pull spring abuts against a rear closed end of the interior of the retaining tube, and the working end of the push-pull spring is joined to a push-pull spherical body which acts towards the tube opening; a winding wheel, which is pin connected to the interior of the magazine body, and winds a pull wire, a free end of which is joined to the push-pull spherical body; a toggle switch, which is mounted on the exterior of the magazine body, and is inwardly linked to effect a blocking tooth function on the winding wheel; a drive device, which obtains rotational energy by means of a pullback cord to act on the winding wheel and effect a winding operation.
 2. The magazine clearing mechanism for spherical bullets according to claim 1, wherein the drive device is located in the interior of the magazine body, and is adjoined to one side of the winding wheel.
 3. The magazine clearing mechanism for spherical bullets according to claim 1, wherein one side of the winding wheel is coaxially joined to a one-way ratchet wheel, thereby enabling the blocking tooth of the toggle switch to effect a unidirectional blocking function.
 4. The magazine clearing mechanism for spherical bullets according to claim 1, wherein one side of the winding wheel is coaxially joined to a driven gear and driven by the drive device.
 5. The magazine clearing mechanism for spherical bullets according to claim 1, wherein the drive device is fitted with a spool which is pulled by the pullback cord passing through the magazine body, and the spool unidirectionally acts on the drive gear through a one-way gear meshing device; the drive gear and the driven gear are linked together.
 6. The magazine clearing mechanism for spherical bullets according to claim 5, wherein the drive gear is able to increase the circumferential velocity of the driven gear.
 7. The magazine clearing mechanism for spherical bullets according to claim 5, wherein the external end of the pullback cord after passing through the magazine body is joined to a pull stopper.
 8. The magazine clearing mechanism for spherical bullets according to claim 5, wherein the drive device coaxially drives a restoring device.
 9. The magazine clearing mechanism for spherical bullets according to claim 8, wherein the spool of the drive device drives the restoring device through a relationally linked drive shaft, and the casing of the restoring device is provided with blocking pins for securing to the magazine body.
 10. The magazine clearing mechanism for spherical bullets according to claim 8, wherein the restoring device is fitted with a rewinding spring, which bidirectionally drives the spool through a drive disc. 